GCSE Bearings

Measuring Bearings
4. Determine the bearing of:
Test Your Understanding
(a) Hamburg from Munich
(b) Munich from Hamburg.

5. Determine the bearing of:

(a) Lidl from Argos.
(b) Argos from Lidl.

(a) B from A
(b) A from B
(c) C from B
(d) D from C
(e) A from D
(f) D from A

Exercise 1

1. In each diagram determine: (without a protractor)

(i) the bearing of B from A and 6. Determine the bearing of:
(ii) the bearing of A from B. (a) B from A.
(b) A from C.
(c) B from C.

2. At what bearing is the sun if I read the following

off my compass:
(a) W (b) E (c) NE
(d) SW (e) SE (f) NEE
7. [Edexcel GCSE Nov2015-1H Q11a] Manchester
3. Determine the bearing of: airport is on a bearing of 330° from a London
(a) Cambridge from London. airport. Find the bearing of the London airport
(b) London from Cambridge. from Manchester airport.
8. [Edexcel GCSE Jun2015-2H Q13] Martin and Janet
are in an orienteering race. Martin runs from
checkpoint A  to checkpoint B, on a bearing
of 065 ° . Janet is going to run from
checkpoint B  to checkpoint A.
Work out the bearing of A  from B.

www.drfrostmaths.com
www.drfrostmaths.com
Map Scales and Construction 3. F is at a bearing of 250 ° from E , 4.1 cm away.
Mark the position of F .
Test Your Understanding

1. [Edexcel IGCSE Nov-2010-4H Q8]

The scale of a map is 1 : 50 000
On the map, the distance between two schools is
19.6 cm.
Work out the real distance between the
schools. Give your answer in kilometres.
2. [Edexcel GCSE(9-1) Mock Set  2  Spring 2017 2F
Q10]
A map has a scale of 1 cm to 25 km.
The distance between the cities of Edinburgh and
Bristol is 500 km.
What is the distance on the map between these
two cities?

Exercise 2

1. B is at a bearing of 30 ° from A , 5cm away. Mark

the position of B. 4. A ship is at a bearing of 70 ° from a ship, 6 km
away. Clapp Island is at a bearing of 150 ° from
the ship, 4 km away. By first plotting the locations
of the ship and island (using a scale of 1cm : 1km),
estimate how far away the island is from the
lighthouse.

5. Anne is 3m away from Ishan at a bearing of 100 °.

Katniss is 7m away from Anne at a bearing of
260 °. By plotting the positions of Anne and
Katniss (using a scale of 1cm : 1m), estimate the
distance of Katniss from Ishan.

6. Ron is at a bearing of 300 ° from Harry at a

2. D is at a bearing of 135 ° from C , 6.2cm away. distance of 500m. Hermione is at a bearing of 70 °
Mark the position of D . from Ron at a distance of 650m. But using a scale
of 1cm : 100m, determine the distance of
Hermione from Harry.

7. A map scale is 1 :2000.

(a) The distance on a map between two locations
is 3.5cm. What real distance does this
represent?
(b) A real life distance is 50km. What distance
would this be on a on a large map? Give your
answer in metres.

8. A map scale is 1 :50 000. On a map two locations

are 6.4cm apart. How far apart are they in real
life? Give your answer in kilometres.

www.drfrostmaths.com
9. A map distance of 8cm represents 40km in real 2. Determine the bearing of B from A .
life. Determine the map scale in the form 1 :n.

Bearings using Angle Laws

Test Your Understanding

1. Determine the bearing of B from A .

3. Determine the bearing of B from A .

2. In the diagram, AB= AC . Determine the bearing

of:
(a) C from A .
(b) C from B

4. In the diagram, AB= AC . Determine the bearing

of:
(a) B from C .
(b) C from B.
(c) B from A .

Exercise 3

1. Determine the bearing of B from A .

5. In the diagram AC=BC . Determine the bearing

of:
(a) B from A
(b) C from A .

www.drfrostmaths.com

6. [Edexcel IGCSE Jan2014(R)-4H Q10b]
The diagram shows the positions of a yacht Y, a
ship S  and a beacon B.
The bearing of B  from Y  is 228°.
The bearing of S  from Y  is 118°.
(a) Find the size of the angle BYS.
(b) Given also that BY  = SY, find the bearing
of S  from B.
7. [Edexcel IGCSE Nov2009-4H Q3b] The bearing of B
from A is 062°. 
C is due south of B and A B=CB .
www.drfrostmaths.com
Work out the bearing of C from A.
8. [OCR GCSE(9-1) Nov 2017 6H Q9]
The diagram shows the positions of two towns,
Amton and Bisham.
The bearing of Bisham from Amton is b ° .
The bearing of Amton from Bisham is 6 b ° .
Calculate the 3-figure bearing of Amton from
Bisham.
9. The bearing of B from A is 96 ° and the bearing
of C from B is 104 ° . The distance from A to B is
the same as B to C . Determine the bearing of C
from A .